1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ottoman apparatus that is movable between a stowage position below a front end of a vehicle seat and a foot resting position in front of the vehicle seat, and in particular, the present invention relates to an ottoman apparatus including a driving shaft that tilts.
2. Background Art
As a footrest that may be used by placing the footrest in front of a chair or a sofa, an ottoman is generally used. An ottoman apparatus is used as an ottoman, and the ottoman apparatus can be stowed when it is not needed and can be extended to a foot resting position when necessary. For example, an ottoman apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-332688. In this ottoman apparatus, a supporting frame of a footrest member is connected to a front portion of a vehicle seat, and the supporting frame is movable between a stowage position below a front end of the seat and a foot resting position in front of the seat. An electric motor for a driving source of the ottoman apparatus, and a screw shaft that can be rotated by the electric motor, are approximately horizontally arranged under the seat. A primary link includes a nut that is threadably mounted to the screw shaft, and the primary link horizontally moves backward and forward relative to the seat according to the screw shaft and pushes out a tilting link device, whereby the supporting frame is moved to the foot resting position.
In the ottoman apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-332688, power from the electric motor is transmitted from the screw shaft to the primary link, the tilting link device, and the supporting structure, in this order. Another ottoman apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-239291, for example, and power from an electric motor is output to a rotational center of a tilting link device. In this ottoman apparatus, the electric motor rotates the rotational center of the tilting link device, whereby a supporting frame can be moved between a stowage position and a foot resting position.